


she will be loved.

by legally_blonde



Series: Jukebox Love Story [7]
Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24655561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legally_blonde/pseuds/legally_blonde
Summary: Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Series: Jukebox Love Story [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728451
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	she will be loved.

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: there is a mention of domestic violence in this chapter. nothing graphic other than mentioning an action and basic description of injury, but wanted to provide this warning just in case.

**She Will Be Loved**

* * *

_Beauty queen of only eighteen, she had some trouble with herself_

_He was always there to help her, she always belonged to someone else_

* * *

“Steven,” Jackie gasped, surprised by the person standing at her door. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping we could maybe talk,” he said, his hands shoved deep in his pocket to keep himself from nervously fidgeting.

“Uh, yeah, of course,” she said, feeling as nervous as he started to sound. She saw that her tiny apartment was cluttered, so she began to clean up and organize what she could.

“You, uh, you don’t have to do that. You’ve seen where I live,” he said and laughed nervously.

“Do you want coffee? No, of course you don’t want coffee you were never a coffee drinker. You want a beer? I think I have some, it’s not what you usually drink but I think it’s still good.”

“Jackie,” he cut off her rambling. “I’m good.”

“Okay,” she said as she fixed herself. “So, you wanted to talk?”

“I heard you ended things with Kelso,” he said and she nodded. “For good?”

“I always say it’s for good, and then I always end up back with him,” she said sadly. “I don’t want to lie to you.”

“Do you want to go back to him?”

“No, god no,” she said. “He’s cheated on me so many times, Steven, but getting a girl pregnant? I don’t know if I can ever forgive him.”

“Understandable,” he said.

“Are you here because Michael wanted you to convince me to get back with him?”

“No,” he said honestly. Kelso did want him to do that, and asked him many times to do that, but he wasn’t here for that. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. You haven’t been by the shop in a while.”

“I didn’t want to risk running into him,” she said with a small shrug. “I think this is the last straw, you know? The final push for me to leave this hell hole.”

“Leave?”

“There’s nothing left for me here, Steven,” she said sadly. “Maybe I’ll go to Chicago like I’ve dreamt about as a little girl. Daddy can set me up in a nice apartment, I’ll find a job, maybe go to college. It’ll be good for me.”

“Sounds like a plan, doll,” he said with a small nod as he stood up. “Well, uh, as long as you’re doing okay.”

“Steven, you didn’t just come here for that,” she said, grabbing his wrist to stop him from leaving.

He sat back down and let out a breath, trying to calm his nerves. He felt Jackie’s hand on his shoulder, rubbing in soothing motions.

“Do you, do you have to leave?”

“I don’t see another option,” she said, taking her hand off his shoulder and looking down at her lap. Hyde instantly missed her touch. “If I stay, I’m either going to end up back with Michael or end up with another guy like Chip. I don’t want to go back to a cheater who knocked someone up, and I really don’t want to end up with another guy who thinks it’s okay to hit me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t keep you safe,” he said sincerely, looking up at her as she remembered the day Chip smacked her across the face. He’d never forget Jackie coming to him with a bruise on her beautiful face and a busted lip. Chip looked a lot worse after he was finished with him.

“You can’t always protect me, Steven,” she said with a small shrug.

“What if I can, though,” he said after a few moments of silence. 

“It’s impossible, but I appreciate the gesture,” she smiled. “It’ll be okay. You won’t have me crying to you all the time, bugging you to spend time with me when Michael was _busy_.”

“But what if I want you to do that,” he said, turning to her. “What if I’m your other option.”

“Steven,” she said, looking at him curiously. “You don’t like me very much.”

“Doll, if I didn’t like you, would I be here right now,” he asked and she shrugged. “I’m sorry if I’ve made you think that. You were my best friend’s girl. I wasn’t supposed to have feelings for you – I shouldn’t have feelings for you, but I do.”

“You do?”

“Jackie, you’re all that I can think about,” he said, letting out an awkward laugh.

“I think one of the reasons I always went back to Michael because if I did, I would still have you in my life,” she said quietly. “I never thought you’d find me as anything more than the annoying, idiotic girl who kept dating your friend. I just couldn’t bear not having you around.”

“But you’re still looking to leave?”

“Well, I was until you decided to lay this on me,” she said, some of her signature sass lightening the mood. “Going back to Michael each time ate away at my self-worth, but after Chip I was scared. I was too scared about what would happen with the next boy. It was better going back to the devil I knew. Michael never laid a hand on me.”

“You should never have to worry about that,” he said, pulling her close to wipe the tears that were falling. “You would never have to worry about that with me.”

“I know,” she said, looking up at him with her big, mismatched eyes. “But I don’t want to get in between your friendship with Michael. I’ve always been the intruder, I don’t want to make it worse.”

“You’ve never been an intruder, and Kelso has no say after what he’s done. He’s happy, you deserve to be happy. Whatever it is that’ll make you happy, I’ll support you.”

“You’ve been such a good friend to me,” she sobbed, crawling into his lap like she usually does when she cries. “I’m so sorry I’ve never appreciated it until now.”

“It’s cool,” he said, rubbing her back.

“I know it was you who went after Chip,” she said quietly. “I know Michael took credit for it, but he could never do that kind of damage.”

“He deserved it,” he shrugged. “Would have been worse if Forman didn’t hold me back.”

“Eric?”

“He wasn’t too pleased either about the situation, got a couple kicks in himself.”

“Everyone but my own ex-boyfriend defended my honor,” she said, letting out a watery, sad laugh. “You must think I’m a fool.”

“No,” he said, grabbing her face to look at her. “I think you’re resilient, and you’re smart as hell. You’ve just been dealt a bad hand and you made a few mistakes trying to figure things up. It’s called growing up.”

“How’d you get so wise?”

“Hard knock life, a lot of weed,” he said and she smiled. “Don’t go back to him, Jackie. Don’t leave. Stay here, with me.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “On one condition.” 

“Anything.”

“Don’t cheat on me,” she said seriously. “I don’t care how bad things get, how annoying I may be, how frustrated we are with each other. We figure it out together, we take some space, we break up. Just don’t cheat on me. Don’t make me look like a fool. I took it from Michael, I couldn’t bear it from you.”

“I won’t cheat, I swear,” he said, kissing her forehead lightly. “We’ll figure out whatever gets thrown at us.”

“Thank you, Steven,” she said, grabbing his face and kissing him gently on the lips.

“You deserve to be loved, Jacks,” he said quietly as she hugged him. “You will be loved.”

* * *

_I don’t mind spending everyday out on your corner in the pouring rain_

_Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while_

_& she will be loved_

**Author's Note:**

> Song: She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
> 
> hi all, happy friday :) i hope you all enjoyed this chapter. let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions for future chapters!


End file.
